Moving to Wimbeldon, does anyone go to the Ursuline school , any feedback postive or negative

[newtouk]

I am moving to the UK in May with my 6 year old boy and little girl who is 3. I am looking at the Ursuline school for both of them and was hoping to have some feedback on the school. My son will be in Reception in May (due to being behind the UK as we currently live in Switzerland). I am also looking at the nursery for my daughter? As I am new to the UK I am going on my gut feeling with the school but just wanted some local advice for Wimbeldon schools. Thanks very much.

I attended here and I thought Ursuline was an all girls school?
Unless it's changed since.

But overall, it was a very positive experience.

I went to the senior many years ago .. but yes the Prep always had boys up to the age of seven - then they went on to the prep for Wimbledon College (if that still exists).

Lilymaid....I was there too! many years ago.

Thank you for your messages. I am going to go with the school, seems like the right place for my children.

Hi See that you have decided but just wanted to offer some advice. the Ursuline prep only takes boys until age 7 (KS1 Recep, Y1 & Y2) they then normally transfer to Wimbledon college pre prep - Donhead. Donhead used to start at Y3 but a couple of years ago decided to introduce Recep, Y1 and Y2 itself. It is now quite difficult to get in in Y3 as it is generally full from Reception so you would need your son's name on the waiting list.

Also if you are keeping him down a year which you can usually do in private schools be aware that if he was to transfer to state school for secondary level the state schools will need him in his correct year as council generally won't fund children to repeat a year. If you are planning private right through you should be OK but I think the majority of private secondary schools in the area are selective. Ursuline & Donhead aren't.

Thanks 23balloons, my understanding is that Donhead have only one reception class and then at Year 3 they have two classes so they can cater for another entry at Year 3. I understand we will have to stay private for their schooling but trying to find a Year 1 place at the moment is very difficult and also I have missed all the deadlines for my daughter to start school in September. We have a local school in Wimbledon Park (0.1mile)from our house but the Ofsted reportr was not very good. I see another school is 0.9 miles away but its a popular school. Otherwise we are right on the border for Wandsworth and I will have to call the LEA to see how difficult it is to get into the schools. Any advice ?

As far as I know I am fairly certain Donhead only have one class per year throughout the school. If you have seen the building you would know why, it is very limited in terms of space and couldn't cater for 2 classes per year from Y3. Although it may take a few extra boys in Y3 than Y2? You should definitely contact Donhead and explain your situation and get his name on the list if that is where you wish him to transfer to.

It is difficult to give any real advice. My genunie advice would be if he is academic to go for a selective school. If he is not then you need to find out where he will go at Secondary level before committing to Ursuline. The concern I would have would be Ursuline is a predominantly girls school and he will probably be at least 1 year older than his classmates. It depends on how much he likes girls I suppose.

Sorry didn't mean to be so negative I realise you must be really stressed at the moment. Ulitmately it depends on whether you are staying in the UK and the area. If you are not then you don't really have a problem.

If you do plan to stay then I am saying you need to find out what his options will be at 11. If he stays down a year he would not really be able to get into the State system. As far as I know the most able from Donhead go to either selective private or state secondaries, the others tend to go to Wimbledon College (assuming you are Catholic and attend church regularly). I may be wrong but I don't know of any non-selective secondary schools in the area? Therefore, if you are staying in the area I would look in to this thoroughly before making any definite decisions. It may be he starts off a year below and somehow progresses to his year group by Y6 - you would need to discuss this with the school.

Hi 23balloons that you so much for your messages, its so confusing. Here in Switzerland my son attends a school where he currently is in Reception and only has 2.5 days a week of English - other days in German. So he will miss a whole year of school if he goes into the state system ( maybe better now when he is only 5) or we just stay private for all his schooling. Donhead refered me to the Urusline school as they have no places for Year 1. Its hard to understand the system when you are moving from another country and I am Australian and my husband is Irish/Australian. We are Catholics and want the kids to be educated in the catholic faith. Thanks for your advice. We are moving on the 18th May and I will be hitting the ground running. I have been in touch often with Donhead and have to wait until after the holidays to see where he is on the waitlist. The State system is very hard to get a place and many schools in Wimbledon are very popular. The two State Catholic schools are very popular and also very difficult. I am very stressed about this situation and know what we will choose now will affect his schooling life !!!

my friends dds went there and it seemed v good

Hi we seem to have a bit in common. My husband is Australian and we are also Catholic. The UK system doesn't work the same as the Australian system where I believe children can repeat a year. That it is why it is important to figure out how keeping him back a year will affect him later on. There are no private Catholic secondaries and all the state secondaries would require him to enter in the correct year so it would mean him having to catch up a year later on which I think would be much more difficult. My sons attend a catholic primary but it would be too far for you and to be honest I would't necessarily recommend it.

You could easily start him in Ursuline and when you get here assess the situation more closely, quite often spaces turn up in schools in July (year end) as families tend to move on and usually there are extra spaces in Y3 as class sizes can be increased slightly. I am not saying anything bad about Ursuline prep btw, just that it is primarily a girls school but I think somebody told me they always keep spaces at Donhead for the Ursuline boys.

My best advice is basically if you think your son could cope in his correct year group it would give him more options later on in the UK system. However, if you plan to return to Australia it won't be a problem.

Hope you settle well here - have you lived in been to the UK before?

Thanks, My son is quite a happy child and I have been doing alot of reading, writing and maths with him to try to get him up to speed. He is a bright child and many of my friends here in Switzerland said he would have no problem in the UK where children vary so much in each year. We are moving to Wimbeldon Park and will have Wimbledon Park Primary School 0.1 mile away and they seem to be a good school and not having to drive across Wimbledon each morning would be fantastic. I know we dont have any chance in getting into a local Catholic School and the nearest COE school is very popular Bishop Gilpin. Anyway I have a couple of weeks to make up my mind. I was unaware the Catholic High schools were state. We are unsure how long we will be in the UK. I love the UK and lived in Wimbledon Park 12 years ago when I was a backpacker, it has changed a bit but I am looking forward to showing my children London and the countryside. Its a tough choice, sned him to Ursuline where I have a place for both children - my daughter is due to start reception in September or cross my fingers and hope we get a place at Wimbledon Park and the shock of a large school is not too hard after his little school here.

Good luck with the move. I hope you are very happy here. Your son will probably thrive, he sounds like he will cope well with his own year group as most schools should cater to the level the child is at.

The UK education system is a bit of a minefield. Most primaries are fine, it really is the secondaries that are a big problem.